gistfile1.txt

These are the excerpts of each IBM-acquired company's official merger blog post that came post-acquisition. All shared on the company's respective websites.
Ask your favorite AI chatbot about which one has the strongest language that implies deep integration with IBM.

----

Out of these three IBM completes acquisition announcements, which one has the stronger language implying deep integration:

CONFLUENT:
```
IBM Completes Acquisition of Confluent, Making Real Time Data the Engine of Enterprise AI and Agents
Day-one integrations include IBM watsonx.data, IBM MQ, IBM webMethods Hybrid Integration, and IBM Z

ARMONK, N.Y., March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today completed its acquisition of Confluent, Inc., the data streaming platform that more than 6,500 enterprises, including 40% of the Fortune 500, rely on to power real-time operations. Together, IBM and Confluent deliver a smart data platform that gives every AI model, agent, and automated workflow the real-time, trusted data needed to operate across on-premises and hybrid cloud environments at scale.

As enterprises move from AI experimentation to production, the critical barrier to success is the data — clean, governed, continuously refreshed —and delivered at the speed and scale AI demands. Yet in most enterprises today, data remains siloed across systems and environments, arriving hours or days after it is generated. Together IBM and Confluent provide the fabric through which AI agents can access the information they need, with the controls, governance, and real-time velocity to put information to work safely and at scale.

IDC estimates that more than one billion new logical applications will emerge by 2028 [1], driven by a new generation of AI that will only deliver value if the data behind it is live, trusted, and continuously flowing. That scale of demand requires a new kind of data foundation, and IBM and Confluent address that challenge directly, giving enterprises a single, governed platform where AI models and agents can operate with context, in real time, across every environment.

"Transactions happen in milliseconds, and AI decisions need to happen just as fast. With Confluent, we are giving clients the ability to move trusted data continuously across their entire operation so their AI models and agents can act on what is happening right now, not on data that is hours old" said Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President, IBM Software and Chief Commercial Officer. "Together, IBM and Confluent give enterprises the foundation for a new operating model - one where AI runs on live data, drives decisions in real time, and delivers value at scale."

Built on Apache Kafka®, the standard for data streaming, Confluent is already embedded in the operational fabric of the world's largest enterprises, with a customer base that spans industries from financial services and healthcare to manufacturing and retail.

Michelin relies on Confluent to manage real-time inventory across a supply chain spanning 170 countries — achieving 35% cost savings without sacrificing visibility or control [2].

L'Oréal uses Confluent to stream real-time product and inventory updates across internal systems and third-party applications, helping the company respond faster to changing consumer demand [3].

BMW Group streams IoT data from 30+ production sites and its global sales network in real time, connecting factory floor systems and cloud applications across the organization [4].

Ticketmaster streams ticket inventory, sales, and customer activity in real time across hundreds of systems, reducing development friction and powering machine learning at scale [5].

"Since our founding, Confluent's mission has been to set the world's data in motion, making data streaming as foundational to the enterprise as the database. Joining IBM allows us to accelerate that mission at a much greater scale," said Jay Kreps, CEO and Co-founder of Confluent. "IBM's global reach and deep enterprise relationships will help us go further, faster. As enterprises move from experimenting with AI to running their business on it, helping data flow continuously across the business has never mattered more. I'm excited to see what we'll build together."

IBM and Confluent Product Synergies

Today's announcement brings immediate integrations across the IBM portfolio, including:

AI-Ready, Real-Time Data. Enterprise AI technologies need current context, not yesterday's data. Confluent streams live operational events directly into watsonx.data – ensuring every model, agent, and workflow runs on continuously updated enterprise data, with lineage, policy enforcement, and quality controls included.

Activate the modernized mainframe in the AI era. The most critical business transactions in the world have long run on IBM Z. With IBM Z and Confluent, organizations can identify and drive real-time events at the transaction source as well as stream transactional data directly for real-time analytics, automation, and AI workflows. This enables mission-critical transaction processing to integrate tightly with the rest of the business in real-time, at enterprise scale.

Event-Driven Automation Across Hybrid Environments. IBM MQ and IBM webMethods Hybrid Integration form the foundation of enterprise event-driven automation, combining trusted transactional messaging with modern integration and orchestration across hybrid environments. Confluent extends this platform with high-scale event streaming, enabling applications, APIs, and AI agents to sense and act on business events in real time.

With Confluent, IBM Consulting and IBM partners, will help clients build the data foundation their AI needs — live, governed, and continuously flowing across every system and environment.

"The shift from AI experimentation to production deployment has exposed a critical gap in enterprise data architecture: the inability to deliver trusted, real-time data to the systems that need it most. AI agents and automated workflows don't operate on historical data; they require live operational signals, continuously flowing across the enterprise as events occur," said Sanjeev Mohan, Principal Analyst, SanjMo. "IBM has made significant progress assembling a portfolio that addresses both sides of this equation: governance and infrastructure for data at rest, and a platform for data in motion. For enterprises whose architecture and priorities align with this approach, it is a compelling stack worth evaluating."

Under the terms of the agreement, IBM has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Confluent for $31 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $11 billion.

For more information about today's news, please visit https://www.ibm.com/products/confluent/

[1] *Source: IDC, 1 Billion New Logical Applications: More Background, doc #US51953724, April 2024

[2 -5] *Source: Confluent Case Studies & Testimonials

https://www.confluent.io/customers/michelin/

https://www.confluent.io/customers/loreal/

https://www.confluent.io/customers/bmw-group/

https://www.confluent.io/customers/ticketmaster/

###

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Press Contact

Sarah Benchaita
IBM Software Communications
sarah.benchaita@ibm.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this communication may be characterized as forward-looking under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward‑looking statements in this press release may include statements regarding the expected benefits of the transaction, the impact of the transaction on IBM's and the acquired business's operations and financial results, and expectations following the completion of the transaction. There can be no assurance that the anticipated benefits of the transaction will be realized. All forward‑looking statements are based on information available to IBM as of the date of this press release. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in IBM's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10‑K and Quarterly Report on Form 10‑Q. IBM undertakes no obligation to update forward‑looking statements, except as required by law.
```

RED HAT:
```
Skip to content
Navigation
AI
Hybrid cloud
Products
Training
Learn
Partners
Search
For you
Log in
Press releases  IBM TO ACQUIRE RED HAT, COMPLETELY CHANGING THE CLOUD LANDSCAPE AND BE...
IBM TO ACQUIRE RED HAT, COMPLETELY CHANGING THE CLOUD LANDSCAPE AND BECOMING WORLD’S #1 HYBRID CLOUD PROVIDER
Armonk, NY and Raleigh, NC - October 28, 2018 —
Most significant tech acquisition of 2018 will unlock true value of cloud for business
IBM and Red Hat to provide open approach to cloud, featuring unprecedented security and portability across multiple clouds
Deal accelerates IBM’s high-value business model, making IBM the #1 hybrid cloud provider in an emerging $1 trillion growth market
Acquisition will be free cash flow and gross margin accretive within 12 months, accelerate revenue growth and support a solid and growing dividend
IBM to maintain Red Hat’s open source innovation legacy, scaling its vast technology portfolio and empowering its widespread developer community
Red Hat to operate as a distinct unit within IBM’s Hybrid Cloud team
 

Joining forces with IBM will provide us with a greater level of scale, resources and capabilities to accelerate the impact of open source as the basis for digital transformation and bring Red Hat to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to open source innovation.

Jim Whitehurst

president and CEO, Red Hat

 

IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Red Hat (NYSE:RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source cloud software, announced today that the companies have reached a definitive agreement under which IBM will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Red Hat for $190.00 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $34 billion.

“The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer. It changes everything about the cloud market,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “IBM will become the world’s #1 hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.

“Most companies today are only 20 percent along their cloud journey, renting compute power to cut costs,” she said. “The next 80 percent is about unlocking real business value and driving growth. This is the next chapter of the cloud. It requires shifting business applications to hybrid cloud, extracting more data and optimizing every part of the business, from supply chains to sales.”

“Open source is the default choice for modern IT solutions, and I’m incredibly proud of the role Red Hat has played in making that a reality in the enterprise,” said Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO, Red Hat. “Joining forces with IBM will provide us with a greater level of scale, resources and capabilities to accelerate the impact of open source as the basis for digital transformation and bring Red Hat to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to open source innovation.”

This acquisition brings together the best-in-class hybrid cloud providers and will enable companies to securely move all business applications to the cloud. Companies today are already using multiple clouds. However, research shows that 80 percent of business workloads have yet to move to the cloud, held back by the proprietary nature of today’s cloud market. This prevents portability of data and applications across multiple clouds, data security in a multi-cloud environment and consistent cloud management.

IBM and Red Hat will be strongly positioned to address this issue and accelerate hybrid multi-cloud adoption. Together, they will help clients create cloud-native business applications faster, drive greater portability and security of data and applications across multiple public and private clouds, all with consistent cloud management. In doing so, they will draw on their shared leadership in key technologies, such as Linux, containers, Kubernetes, multi-cloud management, and cloud management and automation.

IBM’s and Red Hat’s partnership has spanned 20 years, with IBM serving as an early supporter of Linux, collaborating with Red Hat to help develop and grow enterprise-grade Linux and more recently to bring enterprise Kubernetes and hybrid cloud solutions to customers. These innovations have become core technologies within IBM’s $19 billion hybrid cloud business. Between them, IBM and Red Hat have contributed more to the open source community than any other organization.

“Today’s announcement is the evolution of our long-standing partnership,” said Rometty. “This includes our joint Hybrid Cloud collaboration announcement in May, a key precursor in our journey to this day.”

With this acquisition, IBM will remain committed to Red Hat’s open governance, open source contributions, participation in the open source community and development model, and fostering its widespread developer ecosystem. In addition, IBM and Red Hat will remain committed to the continued freedom of open source, via such efforts as Patent Promise, GPL Cooperation Commitment, the Open Invention Network and the LOT Network.

IBM and Red Hat also will continue to build and enhance Red Hat partnerships, including those with major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba and more, in addition to the IBM Cloud. At the same time, Red Hat will benefit from IBM’s hybrid cloud and enterprise IT scale in helping expand their open source technology portfolio to businesses globally.

“IBM is committed to being an authentic multi-cloud provider, and we will prioritize the use of Red Hat technology across multiple clouds” said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President, IBM Hybrid Cloud. “In doing so, IBM will support open source technology wherever it runs, allowing it to scale significantly within commercial settings around the world.”

Upon closing of the acquisition, Red Hat will join IBM’s Hybrid Cloud team as a distinct unit, preserving the independence and neutrality of Red Hat’s open source development heritage and commitment, current product portfolio and go-to-market strategy, and unique development culture. Red Hat will continue to be led by Jim Whitehurst and Red Hat’s current management team. Jim Whitehurst also will join IBM’s senior management team and report to Ginni Rometty. IBM intends to maintain Red Hat’s headquarters, facilities, brands and practices.

“IBM’s commitment to keeping the things that have made Red Hat successful - always thinking about the customer and the open source community first – make this a tremendous opportunity for not only Red Hat but also open source more broadly,” said Paul Cormier, President, Products and Technologies, Red Hat. “Since the day we decided to bring open source to the enterprise, our mission has remained unchanged. And now, one of the biggest enterprise technology companies on the planet has agreed to partner with us to scale and accelerate our efforts, bringing open source innovation to an even greater swath of the enterprise.”

Financial Details

The acquisition of Red Hat reinforces IBM’s high-value model. It will accelerate IBM’s revenue growth, gross margin and free cash flow within 12 months of closing. It also will support a solid and growing dividend.

The company will continue with a disciplined financial policy and is committed to maintaining strong investment grade credit ratings. The company will target a leverage profile consistent with a mid to high single A credit rating. The company intends to suspend its share repurchase program in 2020 and 2021.

At signing, the company has ample cash, credit and bridge lines to secure the transaction financing. The company intends to close the transaction through a combination of cash and debt. 

The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both IBM and Red Hat. It is subject to Red Hat shareholder approval. It also is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the latter half of 2019.

Investor conference call details

IBM will host an investor conference call beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, October 29, 2018. The Webcast may be accessed via a link at https://www.ibm.com/investor/events/ibm-acquires-redhat102018.html. Presentation charts will be available shortly before the Webcast.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit ibm.com/news 

Subscribe to the feed
About Red Hat
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this communication may be characterized as forward-looking under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Additional information concerning these factors is contained in IBM's filings and other submissions with the SEC. Copies are available from the SEC or from the IBM web site (www.ibm.com).

Statements in this communication regarding IBM and Red Hat that are forward-looking may include projections as to closing date for the transaction, the extent of, and the time necessary to obtain, the regulatory approvals required for the transaction, the anticipated benefits of the transaction, the impact of the transaction on IBM's business, the expected terms and scope of the expected financing for the transaction, the aggregate amount of indebtedness of IBM following the closing of the transaction, IBM's expectations regarding debt repayment and its debt to capital ratio following the closing of the transaction, IBM's share repurchase programs and ability and intent to declare future dividend payments, the synergies from the transaction, the combined company's future operating results, and other statements identified by words such as "will", "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "intend", "plan", "potential", "predict" "project", "aim", and similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs of the management of IBM and Red Hat (as the case may be), as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management, current market trends and market conditions and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of each company's and each company's management's control. In particular, projected financial information for the combined businesses of IBM and Red Hat is based on estimates, assumptions and projections and has not been prepared in conformance with the applicable accounting requirements of Regulation S-X relating to pro forma financial information, and the required pro forma adjustments have not been applied and are not reflected therein. None of this information should be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the historical financial statements of IBM and Red Hat.

Important risk factors related to the transaction could cause actual future results and other future events to differ materially from those currently estimated by management, including, but not limited to: the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect IBM's and Red Hat's business and the price of the common stock of IBM and Red Hat; the failure to satisfy any of the conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction, including the adoption of the Merger Agreement by the shareholders of Red Hat; the timing to consummate the proposed transaction; the risk that a regulatory approval that may be required for the proposed transaction is delayed, is not obtained or is obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction on IBM's and Red Hat's business relationships, operating results and business generally; the risk that the proposed transaction may disrupt current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction; the ability to achieve the synergies and value creation contemplated; IBM's ability to promptly and effectively integrate Red Hat' businesses; the risk that revenues following the transaction may be lower than expected; the risk that operating costs, customer loss, and business disruption (including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers, and suppliers) may be greater than expected; the assumption of unexpected risks and liabilities; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted related to the Merger Agreement or the proposed transaction; the diversion of and attention of management of both IBM and Red Hat on transaction-related issues; and the other factors discussed in "Risk Factors" in IBM's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and subsequent filings with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. IBM assumes no obligation to update the information in the communication, except as otherwise required by law. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger, Red Hat, Inc. (the "Company") intends to file relevant materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A. Following the filing of the definitive proxy statement with the SEC, the Company will mail the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each stockholder entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the proposed merger. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THESE MATERIALS IN THEIR ENTIRETY (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT THE COMPANY WILL FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The proxy statement and other relevant materials (when available), and any and all documents filed by the Company with the SEC, may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In addition, stockholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by the Company via the Company's Investor Relations section of its website at www.redhat.com or by contacting Investor Relations by directing a request to the Company, Attention: Investor Relations, 100 East Davie Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601, or by calling (919) 754-3700.

Participants in the Merger Solicitation

This document does not constitute a solicitation of proxy, an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Company, its directors, executive officers and certain employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of the Company in connection with the proposed merger. Information about the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered to be participants in the solicitation of the Company's stockholders in connection with the proposed merger, and any interest they have in the proposed merger, will be set forth in the definitive proxy statement when it is filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding these individuals is set forth in the Company's proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on June 25, 2018, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on April 26, 2018. These documents may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, and via the Company's Investor Relations section of its website at www.redhat.com.


Red Hat logo
Platforms
Red Hat AI
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
See all products
Tools
Training and certification
My account
Customer support
Developer resources
Find a partner
Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog
Documentation
Try, buy, & sell
Product trial center
Red Hat Store
Buy online (Japan)
Console
Communicate
Contact sales
Contact customer service
Contact training
Social
About Red Hat
Red Hat is an open hybrid cloud technology leader, delivering a consistent, comprehensive foundation for transformative IT and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the enterprise. As a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500, Red Hat offers cloud, developer, Linux, automation, and application platform technologies, as well as award-winning services.

Our companyHow we workCustomer success storiesAnalyst relationsNewsroomOpen source commitmentsOur social impactJobs
Change page language

English
About Red Hat
Jobs
Events
Locations
Contact Red Hat
Red Hat Blog
Inclusion at Red Hat
Cool Stuff Store
Red Hat Summit
© 2026 Red Hat
Privacy statement
Terms of use
All policies and guidelines
Digital accessibility
Cookie preferences
```

HASHICORP:
```
We’re excited to share that beginning September 1, 2025, all business operations for HashiCorp will officially transition to IBM. This marks an important milestone in our journey as HashiCorp, an IBM Company, and unlocks new opportunities for our customers while preserving the trust, continuity, and capabilities you've come to expect from HashiCorp. In this post, we will talk about our continuing mission and share several updates around product naming, billing operations, and support.

A stronger foundation — with familiar tools 
Behind the scenes, we're laying the groundwork to provide long-term customer value by integrating HashiCorp products into IBM’s Automation portfolio. HashiCorp and IBM strongly believe in the power of unified lifecycle management that connects infrastructure, security, and operations through a single control plane.  

Through our transition, the HashiCorp mission remains unchanged. We will continue to help our customers accelerate innovation, strengthen security, and optimize cloud ROI by simplifying hybrid cloud infrastructure and security management. We are thrilled about the opportunity to grow these capabilities within the IBM automation portfolio. Together, we will help customers transform their business with a unified foundation for hybrid cloud, built on trusted data and scalable operations that empower them to adopt AI with confidence and control. 

What’s changing
The naming convention for some products will be changing, notably around product editions. There will be no changes to the features included in each edition, this is simply a change in naming for consistency with the rest of the IBM portfolio.

HashiCorp edition name	IBM edition name
Standard	Essentials
Plus	Standard
Premium	Premium
A subset of customers using legacy products will be transitioned to current products as we streamline product offerings during our integration into IBM’s Automation portfolio. These customers will all be receiving newer products that come with additional features at the same price they have today. Those changes can be seen here.

HashiCorp Global Support systems will align with IBM Support 

HashiCorp’s customer support systems will align with IBM’s world-class support, offering access to plans equivalent to existing coverage. More details will be available in the coming weeks.  

IBM will be taking over billing operations for HashiCorp

HashiCorp customers will receive direct communications about their billing operations changes, but in short, all customers will receive new unique IBM customer numbers (existing IBM customers may continue to use their established account) and invoices will now be issued by IBM. There will be no billing or operational changes for PAYG (Pay as you go) customers at this time.  

Questions? We’re here to help
For more details on billing operations see the Doing Business with IBM documentation 
For more details on product changes see the documentation here
For billing or vendor setup support visit IBM support 
For product support, continue using HashiCorp support  
For anything else, reach out to your HashiCorp account team  
As we move forward as HashiCorp, an IBM Company, our promise to you remains the same: deliver the best infrastructure and security automation solutions to power secure, scalable innovation. This promise is now backed by IBM’s enterprise-grade capabilities and global support. We’re excited for what’s next, and we’re grateful to have you with us. 

What’s changing```